One of the problems with drawing diverse characters in cartoons and comics is that making main characters generic is one way to get readers to identify with them. We read characters into even the simplest shapes.

n the battle of good vs evil there needs to be balance. For every extremist-made comic there should be one purporting an adventurous alternative. Dilbert's gags about expense reports just won't cut it.

Storyboard artists are currently being "screwed" in Hollywood... In the ebb and flow of the storyboard process it can be hard to keep track of how much the storyboard artist is fulfilling the director's vision, and how much he or she is originating ideas.

In many shops it has become more than just the giving away of comics in the hope that some newbie will be back the following week and become a collector. It has become a day for the family too; my eight-year-old daughter may even be looking forward to it more than me.

The darkness in the Superior Spider-Man arc has meant that I've been quietly hiding the comics rather than encouraging my kids to flick through them as I used to. The darkness in Man of Steel means that those same kids will grow up with the Reeve movies rather than the Cavill ones, which is probably cooler anyway.

In spite of its size, the graphic novel can be read at a great pace and holds host to some of the best Star Wars artwork you're likely to see for a novel of its size. The story is classically structured yet effective, and many of the Star Wars fans will recognise places and locations used.

When I mentioned I was off to Kendal for The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, people asked if it was a comic con kind of thing. I answered that although I do go to those sorts of events, this is more of a literary festival.

The cast, the scriptwriter, the producer, the composer (Yes, I am listening to snatches of Hans Zimmer's score as I write this!) It's the optimum mix of the right talent at the right time that can only lead to perfection, right? I am firm in the belief that Man of Steel could be the most epic superhero story ever told on the big screen.

If anybody ever asks me, "who's your favourite superhero?", I always have to say Superman, because he is the grand-daddy of them all. If there wasn't Superman, there wouldn't be superhero comics at all.

Go watch the Superman making-of featurette. Henry Cavill, the actor playing Superman, is English. I know you know this, but still, it's wonderfully unnerving to hear him talk. He went to a boarding school in Buckinghamshire. He did prep. Superman was nurtured not on an alien planet, but in the Home Counties.

I can't believe that when I used to hear the word "feminist" in my teens, I used to think I'd have to get hold of a fleece and dangly earrings to 'join' ... Now I'm a bit older, I'm proud to call myself a feminist - and to take action too, because sticks and stones may break the bones of misogyny, but words will never hurt it.

Comics have always been storyboards. In the absence of today's tech, writers and artists had to find ways to nudge the reader's attention to the right word balloon, to make them parse and run the images cinematically in their mind without the intrusion of a storyboard's zoom lines and motion arrows.

February saw the arrival of the first London Super Comic Convention. An enormous hall at the ExCel in Docklands was filled by fans, cosplayers, stalls, comic creators and something like a god. Amongst the mortals, the mighty Stan Lee walked, smiled, posed for photos, bringing joy and goodwill to all.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend the British Comedy Awards. Having missed my opportunity to do so two years in a row previously, I was naturally excited to be in a room surrounded by my favourite British comics

Fortunately, little by little, comics are creeping into national consciousness. It's accepted that the comic format can and regularly does have the same depth as a prose novel. Though tensions are still high in places, the graphic novel at least is broadly accepted as an equal citizen in the literary world.